Dough recipe? Think in percentages!

Because you calculate with percentages, your recipe is scalable. So it doesn't matter whether you want to make 1 or 2 balls of dough, or 400. You calculate the required quantities for each ingredient, and the result is your customized dough recipe.

There are several apps available these days that take care of this calculation for you. Our Perfect Pizza Flours app also has a calculator. Essentially, the apps work the same way: you enter the desired number of dough balls, along with a few other variables, and the app calculates your recipe. Convenience is key.

And yet, we believe it's important that you understand the system behind the calculation. Most apps are nothing more than a calculation tool. Convenient, but the app simply calculates what you enter. If you don't know what 70% water means in your dough, you can blame the app for your dough being sticky... but that's really the fault of the pizza maker on duty, not the app.

Because certain percentage choices can lead to undesirable effects, we'll go through the ingredients one by one so you understand the role they play in your dough.

Flour

We will cover all aspects of your flour in different blogs on this website. 

Water

Flour and water together form the core of your pizza dough. Flour provides the gluten needed to trap air in your dough and give it elasticity.

Water is a vital link in the formation of the gluten network. While flour plays the most decisive role in dough formation, water is the most controlling of all ingredients. The amount of water largely determines how your pizza will turn out: airy or crispy.

Do you like a crispy pizza? Then make dough with, for example, 53 to 55% water. If you prefer the Neapolitan style, you need 56 to 60% water. Do you want very airy dough with large air bubbles, like in an Italian ciabatta? Then you need at least 70% water.

Around 60% water is a tipping point for many pizza flours. Above 60% water, your dough can quickly become wetter (and stickier). This makes it more difficult to round out your dough. If you want to be on the safe side when it comes to handling your dough, stick to a maximum of 60% water.

The amount of water in your dough always depends on your oven and the baking temperature. Bake at a lower temperature, and your pizza will bake longer and will generally be crispier. A light and fluffy pizza is usually baked briefly at a higher temperature.

To demonstrate that The Perfect Pizza is sometimes a matter of details: In one oven, 53% water in your dough will result in a deliciously crispy pizza. In another oven, the dough with the same percentage of water might become as hard as a cracker. So you have to experiment to find what works best for you and what the ideal percentages are.

Our tip regarding water: start with 60%; this almost always produces a good pizza. You can always increase or decrease the water percentage later.

Yeast

We prefer to use dry yeast or instant yeast (the small granules), simply because these types have a much longer shelf life than fresh yeast. You won't notice any difference in taste between the two because the yeast strain is the same: Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

If you prefer to use fresh yeast, it's good to know that it's less potent than dry yeast. The ratio is 3:1, meaning: 3 grams of fresh yeast equals 1 gram of dried yeast. In the percentages mentioned, from 0.1% to 0.4%, we assume dry yeast is used. Do the calculation and multiply the result by 3 if you're using fresh yeast.

Yeast is a difficult ingredient to summarize in a few words. You have to develop a feel for the right amount for you, your recipe, and your working method, and that can only really be achieved through practice.

We will, of course, provide some guidance. For example, the amount of yeast depends on the resting time of your dough

and the ambient temperature.

• The longer the proofing, the less yeast: > 0.1%-0.2% for proofing longer than 8 hours.
• Use less yeast at an ambient temperature higher than 22°C (72°F). > 0.1%.
• Use slightly more yeast at a lower ambient temperature: > 0.2%-0.3%.
• If your dough is refrigerated for more than 24 hours, use slightly more yeast: > 0.2%.
• For very short proofing times (less than 8 hours), use more yeast: > 0.3%-0.4%.

The ultimate yeast percentage

Do you never want to have to worry about the amount of yeast again and still make perfect dough 95% of the time? Then use 0.2% dry yeast. That's usually fine.

Dry yeast versus instant yeast

These two variants are not entirely the same. Dry yeast sometimes needs to be activated in lukewarm water before you can use it further in your dough. Instant yeast can be used immediately. However, these days, you can usually use dry yeast immediately.

Storing Yeast

Store dry yeast in a sealed container in the refrigerator for a long shelf life. It won't spoil quickly; at most, its effectiveness will diminish slightly over time. You can compensate for this by using a little more yeast.

Testing Yeast

If you suspect your yeast is no longer active, dissolve some yeast in a little lukewarm water with a little honey or sugar. The mixture should foam, a sign that the yeast is still active. No foam? Then it's better to replace the yeast with fresh yeast.

Salt

You need salt to make good dough. Salt plays a more important role in your dough than you might expect:

• Salt ensures good water absorption.
• It influences gluten formation and strengthens the gluten network, which traps air during fermenting.
• Salt affects the volume of your dough and adds color to it when baking.
• Salt makes your dough crispier and adds flavor.
• On warm days, adding more salt can slow the proofing process.

We both almost always make our dough with 2% salt. That's considerably less than the 3% salt in the Neapolitan dough recipe, but sufficient for a very tasty dough.

We prefer to use fine sea salt because it dissolves easily, but coarse sea salt or rock salt will also work.

If you want to reduce the salt, you can lower the percentage to 1%. Even less salt, or even saltless dough, is technically possible—you'll still be making dough—but keep in mind that your dough will tear much more easily when shaping the crust.

Oil

Adding oil to your pizza dough is a choice. It has advantages, but sometimes it's better not to add any oil at all.

In the past, before the advent of electric ovens, no fats were added to pizza dough at all. Because baking times in electric ovens used to be longer than in wood-fired ovens, pizza makers noticed that their electric-baked pizzas sometimes turned out too dry. That's when the idea of adding oil to pizza dough arose:

• Oil binds to the starch, slowing moisture evaporation; this makes the pizza more brittle.
• Oil creates a softer crumb and makes it lighter.
• Oil is a good heat conductor, giving the pizza a beautiful golden brown color when baked.
• The pizza also stays warm longer once it's out of the oven.
• Oil helps form the gluten network in your dough and promotes the rising process.

If you want to add oil, olive oil is the most obvious choice. Most Italian pizza makers will choose olive oil. In that case, preferably use extra virgin olive oil, as this is the highest quality, first-pressed oil.

Another option is peanut oil. Adding peanut oil to your dough will result in a crispier, less soft pizza. Olive oil, on the other hand, will make your pizza a bit more brittle.

You can also replace olive oil with other vegetable oils such as sunflower, corn, or canola. Whichever oil you use, don't exceed 3%, as your dough will be too greasy.

Finally, a tip for when it's best not to add oil to your dough: when you're baking your pizza at a high temperature above 400 degrees Celsius. In the past, these high temperatures were mainly achieved in a wood-fired oven. But nowadays, electric pizza ovens are also available that can reach temperatures above 450 degrees Celsius. Because of the high temperature and the fact that oil conducts heat, you run a higher risk of burning your dough.

For the meticulous among us: we calculate the amount of oil to add in grams. But the specific gravity of oil is 0.92, which means that 100 ml of oil weighs 92 grams. Let's record this as a rounding difference. Our pizzas have certainly never failed because of this.